Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Medicaid Changes Plaguing Some Recipients

State Medicaid program cutbacks are having an effect on care for low-income Americans.

The Associated Press/MSNBC: Firm With Medicaid Deal Gets Help From Missouri
An Indiana company under fire for its handling of Missouri Medicaid patients is receiving help from the state in the form of a cadre of taxpayer-paid temporary workers and state employees … The Indianapolis-based [SynCare] company won a contract in February worth as much as $5.5 million a year to determine whether thousands of Missouri Medicaid recipients qualify for home-based medical services or help with daily chores. The company has received $1.3 million since the contract took effect in mid-May, quickly followed by a litany of concerns, from inordinately long telephone wait times to sharp reductions in the number of hours of allowable care (Scher Zagier, 8/31).

Cronkite News Service/Houston Chronicle: Number Of AZ Children Enrolled In KidsCare Drops
The number of children enrolled in a state-federal health insurance program for youth on the brink of poverty has plummeted from a peak of 66,317 in May 2008 to 16,662 this month, the lowest level since 1999. The drop comes as demand for the program is going strong: In July, more than 100,000 children were on the waiting list for KidsCare, the state's version of the federally sponsored Children's Health Insurance Program (Levy, 8/31).

MinnPost: State Agency Seeking Changes To Keep Poor Elderly And Disabled At Home And Out Of Institutions
Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson and her department are busy these days trying to turn Medical Assistance — Minnesota's version of the federal Medicaid health-care program for the poor elderly and the disabled — on its head. The department will be asking the federal government for changes — a "global waiver" — which, if approved, would change how the state can spend federal human-services funds (Boyd, 8/31).

Chicago Tribune: Paralyzed Football Player Fears For Health Under New State Medicaid Plan
From the time he was paralyzed in a high school football game in 2000, Rasul "Rocky" Clark has received his medical care at Ingalls Health System in Harvey. ... But now, Clark will have to leave the hospital he has depended on since he was hurt, he said. Clark, 27, is one of hundreds, if not thousands, of chronically ill individuals forced to find new doctors because of changes in the state Medicaid program (Bowean, 8/31).

The Lund Report (Oregon): Health Leadership Council Focuses on Transformation
Money's a critical factor when it comes to providing health care to the Medicaid and the uninsured population. ... [T]here's also the question whether people are receiving the most appropriate care. The Oregon Leadership Council has decided to step forward to answer some of these tough questions as the health care transformation begins to unfold with the development of coordinated care organizations and global budgets (Lund-Muzikant, 8/31).

This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.